Antinuclear

Martin Ferguson speaks with forked tongue at IRENA

Ferguson ….. spoke of Australia’s commitment to clean energy….But if you wanted to know what he really thinks about clean energy and resources, and what he thought his audience wanted to hear, you needed to read his speech to a business breakfast the following day. No prizes for guessing that the focus was on coal, LNG and uranium,

Clean out of time , Business Spectator, Giles Patkinson.  8 Apr 2011 Sometimes politicians travel so much and speak to so many different audiences that it must be easy to forget what they should be saying, and to whom. Particularly if your responsibilities straddle multiple portfolios, such as those of Martin Ferguson, the Federal Minister for Resources, Energy (both brown and green), and Tourism.

Ferguson was in Abu Dhabi this week for the inaugural meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the second Clean Energy Ministerial, and for a visit to Masdar City – the ambitious project by the United Arab Emirates, the world’s most energy and emissions intensive states, to create a carbon-neutral metropolis.

Ferguson, speaking after Australia’s election to the council of IRENA, noted how wind and solar PV were predicted to deliver nearly one quarter of the world’s electricity needs by 2050, and spoke of Australia’s commitment to clean energy.

But if you wanted to know what he really thinks about clean energy and resources, and what he thought his audience wanted to hear, you needed to read his speech to a business breakfast the following day. No prizes for guessing that the focus was on coal, LNG and uranium, and Australia’s massive mineral exports. There was little more than a passing reference to “clean energy”, a brief mention of geothermal, and nothing on wind and solar…….Clean out of time | Climate Spectator

April 9, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, people, politics